Search results

Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) provide people aged between 16 and 24 with work-based training which leads to qualifications at National Vocational Qualification level three (NVQ3) or above. This report provides a profile of non-completers and examines how trainees came to start the MA program, their understanding of the process at the start of the training, their training experience and the range of reasons for not completing the MA program. More specifically, it investigates why some leavers from MAs do not attain a NVQ3 and some attain a level three but do not complete the whole training, and why some leavers do not complete their MA in spite of remaining with the employer, in some cases still receiving training. The report also examines what non-completers do after the MA and ways of improving attainment. Information was obtained from recent non-completers, training providers and employers. The five sectors covered in this study are: Care, Hospitality, Retail, Motor and Electrotechnical. Some key issues to emerge from this research include: (1) despite non-completion, most participants felt they had benefited from the program; (2) most employers were generally positive about MAs and very few planned to discontinue their involvement with MA training; (3) most trainees started their training without being fully aware of what the training involved or how long it would take; (4) a large number of employers lack information and knowledge about MAs; (5) there appears to be no one stage of the training program where non-completion is more likely to take place; and (6) Key Skills was one of the key factors identified as leading to non-completion.